"What makes me feel that we could turn ... lemons into whiskey sours is when you look to economic growth," he said. He predicted 2.7 percent growth for 2016, an unemployment rate of 4.6 percent and wage growth of over 3 percent by year's end, and inflation around the Federal Reserve's target of 2 percent.

"We think that's actually going to improve the investor ability to start spending some of that money," Stovall said. "Even if we have all four of the [Fed interest] rate increases in each of the coming four quarters, that's going to put the fed funds rate at 1.25 percent. With inflation at 2.1 percent, we're still at a net negative of real rate environment."

Expectations calling for four Fed rate hikes in 2016 have been dwindling, because of the new year market turmoil, plummeting oil prices and concerns about what a slowdown in the Chinese economy might mean for the U.S. recovery.